Shares of Sprint Corp. sank 7.3% in active midday trade Monday, after a Bloomberg report that Sprint's largest shareholder SoftBank Group Corp. would accept a buyout by T-Mobile U.S. Inc. at current market prices. Volume topped 22.6 million shares within two hours after the open, already more than double the full-day average of about 10.4 million shares. Bloomberg reported late Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, that while T-Mobile and Sprint haven't decided on a price for the expected merger, Softbank doesn't expect to receive much of a premium to current prices. Softbank owned 3.3 billion shares of Sprint, or 82.9% of the shares outstanding. T-Mobile U.S.'s stock slipped 1.3% in midday trade. Over the past three months, Sprint's stock has lost 1.9% and T-Mobile shares have eased 0.3%, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.3%.

U.S. stock benchmarks saw muted trade early Friday as geopolitical tensions re-emerged after North Korea threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean this weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6 points, or less than 0.1%, at 22,354, the S&P 500 index gave up less than a point at 2,500, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed at 6,423. North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong Ho said late Thursday at a United Nations meeting that his country might consider a nuclear bomb of "unprecedented scale" in the Pacific. For the week, the Dow is set to post a gain of 0.4%, the Nasdaq is aiming for a gain of 1.8%, while the S&P 500 is looking at a decline of 0.1%. In corporate news, shares of Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. were active on reports that a merger announcement between the two was imminent. And Apple Inc. was on track to have its worst weekly decline on the same week of a new iPhone release ever.

Sep. 22, 2017 at 10:07 a.m. ET

by MarketWatch

T-Mobile US shares up 1.9% premarket

Shares of Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. jumped in premarket trade Friday, after Reuters said the companies are close to agreeing tentative terms on a merger, citing people familiar with the matter. Japan's Softbank Group Corp. , Sprint's majority shareholder, will own 40% to 50% of the combined entity, Reuters reported. T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG will own a majority stake. Sprint shares rose 4.4%, while T-Mobile shares were up 1.3%. S&P 500 futures were down 0.2%.

Sprint shares are up 10% following reports of merger talks with T-Mobile

Shares of Sprint Corp. gained more than 8% during intraday trade on Tuesday after a CNBC report reignited speculation that the mobile company is in talks to merge with T-Mobile US Inc. . Shares of T-Mobile were up more than 3%, and shares of other mobile carriers also saw a bump, with Verizon Communication Inc. shares up nearly 3% and AT&T Inc. shares up close to 2%. In May, a Bloomberg report, citing sources, said that executives at Sprint had "informal contact" with T-Mobile about a possible merger. The wireless industry has become increasingly competitive and crowded, requiring companies to look for acquisition and/or partnership opportunities. Deal talks in the industry had been on hold until April 27 this year due to the government's spectrum auction. Chairman of Sprint-owner SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, and Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Tim Hoettges, which owns T-Mobile, told investors following the hold to expect talk of industry consolidation, and T-Mobile said it expected to be involved. Shares of T-Mobile are up nearly 12%, while Sprint shares are down about 2% and the S&P 500 index are up close to 12%.

TOKYO -- SoftBank Group Corp. Chief Executive Masayoshi Son expressed eagerness to invest in Uber Technologies Inc. or Lyft Inc. to gain access to the U.S. ride-hailing market after similar investments in Asia.

TOKYO -- SoftBank Group Corp. Chief Executive Masayoshi Son on Monday expressed eagerness to invest in Uber Technologies Inc. or Lyft Inc. to gain access to the U.S. ride-hailing market after multiple similar investments in Asia.

SSoftBank Group has finalized a deal to invest $4.4 billion in office-sharing company WeWork, a massive deal that demonstrates the outsize ambition of the Japanese conglomerate to wield influence in startups around the world.

Media mogul John Malone and his lieutenants are quietly building a cable colossus in Europe and Latin America that potentially could be the backbone for the next generation of wireless-internet service.

Sprint Expands with 44 New Retail Stores Creating More Than 300 Jobs
Across the Southwest

Aug. 22, 2017 at 9:17 a.m. ET

on BusinessWire - BZX

Sprint Corp.

Sprint Corp. provides wireless and wired telecommunications services. The company operates through two segments: Wireless and Wireline. The Wireless segment offers wireless services on a postpaid and prepaid payment basis to retail subscribers and also on a wholesale and affiliate basis, which includes the sale of wireless services. The Wireline segment provides a broad suite of wireline voice and data communications services to other communications companies and targeted business and consumer subscribers. In addition, it also provides voice, data and IP communication services to Wireless segment, and IP and other services to cable Multiple System Operators. Sprint was founded on October 5, 2012 and is headquartered in Overland Park, KS.
(See Full Profile)

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